Comsol’s network powers new mining tech as sector continues recovery

Having installed high-capacity wireless networks at over 50 mine sites, we look at the incredible benefits these networks can unleash 

A recent Business Report article revealed SA’s mining sector is well on the road to recovery, as last year’s 4% rise put output at the highest levels in nearly a decade. Analysts expect the recovery to gather momentum in 2018 – as strengthening global demand (particularly for iron ore) is set against a more optimistic political backdrop.

Miners are also starting to capture the myriad advantages of digital: from predictive maintenance, 3D printing and next-gen analytics to improve mining operations, all the way to driverless vehicles, robotics, drones, holographic ‘digital twins’ and wearables.

These new technologies promise to reshape the decades-old mining sector. Many wonder just how long it will be before this industry experiences dramatic disruption like so many others.

Going wireless

To embrace new technologies, mines require industrial-strength connectivity solutions. They need the kind of networks that can send masses of data ‘from the coalface’, to link up with systems and processes across the mining operation, to analytics and cognitive computing platforms, all the way to the executive suites.

“Mines have always recognised the importance of investing in powerful networks to connect their operations and carry their data,” says Comsol CEO Iain Stevenson, “but due to the remote location, fibre and DSL connections have always been out-of-reach.”

“When networks go down or services go offline, mine sites can lose millions of rands a day. Relying on shaky 3G connections or on Telkom ADSL services places mission-critical systems in jeopardy.”

For many mining operations, the solution was to commission Comsol to build bespoke wireless networks.

“With access to the 28 GHz spectrum and infrastructure that’s fully MEF 2.0 compliant, we were able to create dedicated, high-capacity wireless links – connecting outerlying mine sites with their head offices in urban centres,” says Stevenson.

Future-proofed

Comsol’s carrier-grade wireless alternative includes all the power solutions, redundancy considerations, and SLA guarantees. It gives mine executives the peace-of-mind that their network is resilient, scalable and able to transfer growing volumes of data.

“So far, we’ve worked with 9 of Southern Africa’s biggest mining organisations, connecting over 50 mine sites,” Stevenson notes.

Miners with multiple sites in various provinces are now able to operate all sites from one unified digital platform, with backhaul links connecting into Comsol’s urban fibre rings and terminating at Teraco datacentre environments.

He says that the nature of these networks are scalable and adaptable, reaching out into new areas as a new mine comes on-stream, or easily upgraded to increase network capacity where needed.

“Mines are currently considering a wide range of transformational technology to improve the productivity, sustainability, and safety of their operations,” he adds.

“In the era of the Cloud, of the 4th Industrial Revolution, having a fibre-equivalent wireless network becomes absolutely vital.”